February 15, 2018

At long last the wait is over.......'Farmhouse Reds' by Minick & Simpson has arrived.

All 35 bolts are now in stock, along with Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and Charm Packs, which are all listed on my website here. I am itching to get stitching with these but first I had better get them out of the boxes and onto the shelves. This process just might include an extra step of 'cutting off some for my stash'!

February 11, 2018

Followers on Instagram and Facebook will recognise the name Gareth as he has featured in several posts over the last 6 months.......he even has his own hashtag.....#gareththebluetonguelizard . But not many know his story and how he came to live in our garden.

Back in July I was in full swing in the garden, weeding and mulching which meant lots of wheelbarrow work. Well on one day as I was wheeling the barrow full of weeds across the lawn I accidentally ran straight over the top of a Blue Tongue Lizard. It was the middle of Winter and I certainly wasn't expecting to find him where he was. I felt really bad, so Russell scooped him up and popped him underneath the Pittosporum hedge, where it was nice and dry and out of harms way. A couple of weeks passed and we would often see him out and about, not venturing more than a few metres from the hedge. He would often startle the delivery guy and anyone walking along the path. We soon realised that the wheelbarrow wheel had damaged his back, and although he could get around his back legs didn't work as well as they should do. You can see the depression in his back in this photo, and he also has a discoloured patch on his tail........so we know him by sight and call him by name......Gareth.

At the start we thought that he might have trouble finding food and we collected and gave him snails.

But it soon became obvious that he wasn't hungry as he let the snails climb all over him. I did catch Russell picking strawberries and leaving them for him under his favourite bush.

He has been photographed quite a lot by visitors, sometimes reluctant to come out until after they leave.

As the weather started to get warmer, Gareth started to venture further. After a near miss with mower in October, evident from the covering of lawn clippings, I am now always on the lookout for him.

Maybe he has learnt from that near miss.......this photo was taken about an hour after I had finished mowing!

In December he made his way all the way around to the vegetable garden, but I had to relocate him back to his favourite plant as I had weeding to do and he was getting a little upset with me. The funny thing is that he often hisses at me but never hisses at Russell. I am thinking that he remembers the wheelbarrow incident!

And then he disappeared. We hadn't seen him since the 1st January. We were sad and thought that he had finally moved on and left our garden. And then this morning while I was picking my strawberries look who I found.......yes Gareth. It's definitely him.......with his dented back and marked tail. He has even shed some of his skin.

I left him where he lay.......happy to share a few of my strawberries with him.

And why did we call him Gareth? It was a suggestion by a friend, Simon, on Facebook........and I thought why not!

February 10, 2018

For a number of years now I have stocked the full range of the Cosmo stranded embroidery threads.......all 443 different colours. What I love about these threads, apart from that the fact that they are lovely to work with, is the way that they are stored. All tucked away in a cabinet away from dust and fluff, and I also keep mine away from the direct sunlight.

I have over the years stocked just a small selection of the Cosmo Seasons threads, which are the variegated threads. Stocking just a selection has always been annoying as you never quite have the right colour or shade for your stitching project. So I have decided that enough is enough and I have ordered the full range of 80 threads from the series 8000 Cosmo Seasons threads. Most of them (13 are on back order) arrived on Thursday and I am utilising an old Cosmo cabinet to store them in.

The colours are gorgeous! Not wanting to stop there I have also ordered the full range of the Cosmo Season 9000 series (20 colours) plus the Cosmo Season 5000 series (40 colours). They are yet to arrive but I will let you all know when they do. In the meantime I have added all of the series 8000 that are currently in stock to my website and they can be found here. All of the plain stranded Cosmo threads can also be found online here.

I sell quite a few through my online shop, so if you are having trouble sourcing them through your local Quilt Shop, pop on over and place an order with me.

February 07, 2018

I am just putting up this quick post to get you all to pop this date on your calendar. It is the Colac Quilters Biennial Quilt Show, which is being held from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th March.

The Colac Quilters never fail to put on a great show, and I am really looking forward to being part of it once again. I missed it two years ago due to it clashing with my 'Stitching by the Sea' Retreat, but am happy our calendars didn't collide this year.

February 05, 2018

Last week I blogged about having a new target for the first few months of this year.........making at least one new project a week for the upcoming busy Autumn period which includes my Retreat, the Colac Quilt Show and AQC in Melbourne........and that's all within a 4 week time frame! Russell was away over the weekend so that left me free to spend extra time stitching while being in total control of the remote......lol! I finished another pouch, this time using the lovely lace zippers that I have in stock. I have used these lots in many different projects as they are so easy to sew on.

Aimie's Zippered Pouch measures 23cm x 27cm. The kit comes complete with everything that you need to complete the project, and sells for $20.

February 04, 2018

Thursday morning, while doing the usual 'scroll through Facebook to see what is happening', I came across a post about how the Jayco Herald-Sun tour was going from Colac to Warrnambool via Port Campbell that morning. It just so happens that we live on the route and the riders would be going straight past our place. We had a rough idea of what time to expect them, so armed with camera (Russell) and phone (me), we waited and waited and waited. First there were the Marshalls on motorcycles, traveling ahead blocking off the side roads in the progressive road closure that was required. The Marshalls were interspersed with support vehicles, promotional cars, and about twenty Police on motorcycles with lights flashing. Then we saw the first group of riders rounded the corner.......just six of them.

What seemed like forever, and more support crew, the rest of the riders were upon us.

Riding in their teams.

(Take note of the rider with the drink bottles above and below)

And just like that they were past us, and heading down the road towards the Great Ocean Road.

Russell took these photos and was happily snapping away. Me.....I was trying to take some photos. I was also dodging the drink bottles that the rider had thrown at me.......and complaining that he was chucking rubbish at me. That was until Russell explained that they were souvenirs, and that's what they do in road races.

A friend then warned us not to drink the liquid in it.......especially if it was yellow......lol! Happy to report the liquid was plain water.

February 03, 2018

Early last year I received my first selection of fabrics from the lovely Outback Wife collection from Cathi Bessell-Browne of Gertrude Made fame. It was Cathi's debut range with Australian Company Ella Blue, and it has been very popular. So popular that Cathi has added more designs to her collection, and I couldn't resist adding some of these to the shop. They arrived on Thursday...........Anna (Teal); Rachael (Tan with Metallic); Alys (Green); and Elizabeth (Red/Magenta & Plum)

I have just added them to my website, along with 2 new plain colours in the Barkcloth.........Eucalypt and Boronia. I still have limited stock of the other fabrics in the Outback Wife range. They are all $30 per metre but at 147cm this is great value and ideal for dressmaking adventures!

February 01, 2018

Welcome to February.....a new month and a new lot of great things happening at Gum Valley Patchwork. February will be full of fun with new fabric and threads arriving, as well as an announcement about a new event that I am hoping will become another fixture on my calendar like my 'Stitching by the Sea' Retreat and my 'Stitch in Spring'. There will be plenty of blogging going on so keep checking in to see what is happening.

So to kick off February, I am giving away a Quilters Companion 2018 Diary (RRP $19.95) with every purchase over $100.

But be quick as I only have a limited number available......once they are gone that's it!